


Star Wars Sentinel

by Avatarconner (Huntsman_Jedi)



Category: Star Wars
Genre: After movies, F/M, First Order, Jedi, New Order, Orginal Characters, Resistance, Sith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-06 02:20:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6734056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntsman_Jedi/pseuds/Avatarconner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many years since the war between the Resistance and the First a Order has ended. The Resistance is displaced and the First Order's troops were pushed back into the far reaches of space. But that was long ago, and now a new threat to the Galaxy is just begining. Taking place after all the movies this story fallows a teenager on his path to become a Jedi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Hopeless

AN: Ok, so if you haven't read any of my other stories, welcome to the story! If you're someone who’s read my other stories, you're probably asking yourself, WHAT THE HELL IS HE THINKING? Now, I plan to write this story along with the other two I'm working on, since the other two are based after TV shows I'll switch between seasons and work on this between ‘episodes’.

Now you guys are probably wondering why I'm doing this. Well like many of you, growing up I watched the epic space opera before I could even read. Me and my brother would spend hours downstairs watching VCRs of the original trilogy. 

And honestly after a while, it became one of those things I just knew. But for a while it felt like it was just part of my growing up. But going into a theatre ten years after seeing the last one, it finally made it real that it was something for people of all ages. 

So I decided that I should do something to honor the series with so a few years back I had this idea. But obviously I hadn't the fortitude to post it do it was just in the back of my head for the longest time. 

And so,finally given the opportunity, I decided, screw it. I'm going to do a Star Wars story. I don't know when it’ll end but until then, I'm going to have fun with it. 

Also I want to say that this story is dedicated to Monty Oum, a great, creative man who worked hard to make a dream of his come true. We all miss you Monty, keep moving forward.

So without further wait, let's get into it.

(000)

A long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away...

STAR WARS  
SENTINEL  
ACT I

THE WAR HAS ENDED. THE GALAXY HAS ENJOYED AN ERA OF PEACE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS. BOTH THE FIRST ORDER AND THE RESISTANCE HAVE BEEN DISBANDED, ONLY REMNANTS OF THE FIRST ORDER REMAIN CONFINED TO A FEW PLANETS IN THE OUTER RIM. THE JEDI HAVE COME BACK FROM THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION AND ARE STRONGER THAN EVER. 

BUT WAR HAS NOT BEEN THE ONLY PROBLEM TO PLAGUE THE GALAXY. THE JEDI HAVE FOCUSED THEIR EFFORTS TOWARDS POLICING THE GALAXY AND DEFENDING IT FROM THREATS. HOWEVER THE SITH EMPIRE STILL EXISTS AS WELL. FEW IN NUMBER THE JEDI TIRELESSLY WATCHES FOR THEM, READY TO COMBAT WHATEVER THREAT THEY MAY SOON POSE TO THE GALAXY. 

AND WITHIN THE SEA OF STARS THAT STRETCH ENDLESSLY THROUGH THE COSMOS, LIES A SINGLE SOUL OF WHICH WILL IMPACT THE GALAXY….

(000)

 

Rutan, one of the more isolated planets in the Xenex sector of the Galaxy. Covered by a mixture of lush greenery and water, from space, it didn't look like much. That's what many traders who arrive and depart from it’s port think of anyway. The inhabitants were a mix of many species, Rodian, Twi’lek, humans, and many more. 

On the surface of the planet was a small large settlement, a large portion of it being a spaceport for traders to come in, drop off, and buy any consumables or supplies needed for their trip. The port was a squared off metal landing strip, about a dozen small ships residing there currently. 

Near one of the ships stood a teen with a bored expression on his face as he pushed a pallet of crates across the ground, the surface hovering across the metal almost silently. 

The teen stood tall at 5’4, he had dark brown hair that was slightly ruffled, grey eyes, and pale skin. He was fifteen years old and honestly, he looked like a twig compared to others his age. His name was Aaron Raeth, and he was a cargo handler, born and raised on the planet.

Reaching the ramp to the cargo ship, he began pushing the cargo up the slope. That was until something small and hard hit the back of his head. “Oh no.” he groaned out quietly as he ignored another small pellet hit the back of his head . Entering the ship’s hold, he kneeled down on beside platform, pressing a small button the metal square’s understood opened, lowering the crates to the floor, the front of the pallet lid open so he could pull it back before it formed back into a square.

Turning around, a rock hit him right above his eye, recoiling out of reflex he grabbed the loader pallet for support, nearly tripping over himself as the shooter laughed. At the bottom of the ramp was Aaron’s least favorite person in the Galaxy. 

Raze Zaire. His biggest tormentor, and his superior in the workplace. “Hey druk head watch it!” he called out tauntingly as Aaron regained his balance and whatever pride he had left. Raze was, in a sense, what Aaron wanted to be, he was bigger than him, physically, tougher than him, and got paid more than him. 

Pulling the cart back down the ramp, Aaron stayed quiet. Getting into it with Raze was a bad idea, ever since they were both kids he felt he could pick on him. When Aaron told a superior about it though, they went light on Raze because he acted so kind to others around him.

But now Raze was his superior, right under the foreman. Who also happened to be his dad, so any complaints were out of the question for obvious reasons. 

As the teen continued to walk, he could hear Raze following him. Like a hunter lying in wait to strike again, and by strike, Aaron mean do something that could possibly end up hurting him physically. Aaron turned to the sound of a ship slowing down, working at this place, Aaron learned on day one that you have to pay attention to your surroundings or you’ll end up crushed by a ship.

As weird as that sounds it does happen.

As the ship landed, Aaron couldn't help but notice how small it was compared to the other cargo vessels. It looked like a personal compressed down version of a blockade runner, the five thrusts on the rear of the ship sat vertically over the loading door to the ship. 

Raze moved past him, shoving him aside to greet the captain of the ship. Thankfully this gave Aaron the opportunity to slip away from him for a few moments at best. Heading to the gate that lead to town, he opened the door to the employee locker room and changed out of his uniform and into his regular clothes. 

A plain orange shirt and brown cargo pants and work boots was what he usually wore, his work clothes being a blue jumpsuit. Aaron exited out the employee doors into the settlement.

The town was mostly composed of small one or two story buildings made of stone and mortar. Walking through town, the teen stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked down the side of the road as speeders glided across the road. 

Walking through the town, he kept his head down as he passed a few people from his school. He could feel the bruise above his eye begin to swell, as soon as he got home he’d get a small bandage for it. Hopefully it’d be healed up like tomorrow. 

By now Raze knew how to invite so that the wound would be temporary. A knee to the guy though works, since it's covered by clothing no matter what. Aaron shook those thoughts aside as he neared the two story house that he called home. 

The door skid upwards at the press of a button, entering inside, he made his way past the den, hoping not to disturb his father. “Kyle?” he called out. 

Aaron winced at the mention of his brother's name, “No dad.” he answered. 

He could hear his father sigh, “Oh it's you.” he stated, leaning out of his chair to look, “What the hell happened to you?” he asked, pointing at Aaron’s head, noticing the discolored skin. 

The teen looked down, unable to meet his eyes, “Got it at work.” he answered quickly, deciding to get it over with quickly without coming up with a lie.

The Karn Reath let out another sigh, this one more aggravated. “Dammit Aaron, what do I keep telling you? You want to stop being kicked around?” he asked. Aaron stayed quiet, “Do you!?” he demanded, causing Aaron to wince.

“No. I don't.” Aaron answered dejectedly as he stared at the wooden floor. 

Karn returned back to the broadcast on the screen, “Then stand up for once in your life.” he said, not even looking at his son. Aaron simply turned and walked up the stairs to his room. Opening the door, he kicked it shut behind him with his heel, the room was mostly vacant except for a desk, chair, bed, and bookshelf containing all his reading material.

Many of the texts were of educational use, the others were books on different languages like Rodian, Twi'lek, and few others. Grabbing one of the books, he laid down on his bed and started reading. As time passes by, he made a decent way through the story until the door to his room opened, his brother peeking inside. 

Kyle took after their father in terms of looks, like his father he had short brown hair that was close to his head, a small bit of fiscal hair that was stubbled. “Hey man, thought I'd find you in here.” he said walking over to his bed.

Aaron smiled a little, his older brother was one of the more popular people in town. He had been hoping that meant he'd be cut some slack, especially since him a Raze travel in the same circles.

His position today answers that question. 

“What brings the prince of the town to my corner?” he asked, setting the book down on his chest. 

“Raze.” Kyle answered plainly, making the smirk disappeared from his brother's face. “Look I know dad sometimes can be blunt-”

“Sometimes?” Aaron asked skeptically, “You mean like when I had a crush on Kira and his advice was tell her straight out?” he asked.

Kyle titled his head and adverted his gaze, “It wasn't that bad.”

“She called me a stalker.” Aaron said flatly.

Kyle raised his hands as he shook his head, “Doesn't matter, back on topic. Mainly the one about how you do need to stick up for yourself. Look Raze is like a Rancor, he's big, he's mean, but if you stand up to him, he respects you.” he explained.

Aaron looked at him with his jaw hanging open, “Dumbass! Those things eat you! And I'm not ready to get myself killed just yet, I still have to see another planet, after that, I'm good.” he said jokingly as he grabbed his book and held it up again only for Kyle to grab it and hold it out of his reach.

“Look, it works, it worked with me, and it’ll work with him. But you gotta do it on your own.” he explained.

Aaron sighed, “Just like always.” he mumbled before swiping his book back. 

Kyle gave his little brother a look of sympathy, it was easier for him than Aaron. “Look man, it’ll turn out ok. Just hang in there.” he stated, patting his younger brother's shoulder with his hand. As he exited the room, Aaron sighed.

Kyle was a good brother looking out for him but it didn't change the fact that he didn't know it was like in his shoes. He was friends with Raze, of course he wouldn't get what it's like to be bullied by him. 

Standing up from the bed he set his book back where he got it from before changing into his nightwear and going to bed. Hoping that tomorrow would be better.

(000)

Aaron’s day had been an improvement since yesterday, well it was for the moment anyway. As he changed into his jumpsuit and exited the the locker room where the employee’s clothes and personal belongings were kept. As he walked out onto the spaceport, he felt a hand clamp down roughly on his shoulder, “Hey, bud.” Raze said, emphasizing the word ‘bud’.

And just like that my day is about as bad as yesterday. Aaron though as he stopped in his tracks. “Look, I'm going to say this only once so listen. I'm getting off a hour early from work. You're going to cover for me. Understand?” 

Aaron sighed, “Yes.” he said defeatedly, seeing no outcome were arguing wouldn't end with him getting hurt physically.

“Or you can do your job.”

The two turned their heads to look at the adult who had heard their conversation. He towered above the both of them. The man was a full grown adult, he had black hair combed back with a goatee on his face, a small scar tore over his lip and through the heart as well.

His clothing consisted of a who're shirt underneath a brown tech pay. With a pair of dark green pants with something on the side of his belt,at a guess Aaron could see it as a holster for a blaster, “If you put your work onto others, then how does that make you strong boy?” he asked Raze. 

Aaron managed to simply step out of Raze’s grasp, the older boy being temporarily frozen in place at being caught. “Well…..you see I…..”

“You're going to go do your job and leave him alone now. Aren't you?” The man asked, his hand waving over to Aaron. Honestly the teen had to stifle a laugh, leave him alone? That's like waving a treat in front of a animal’s face and taking it away he'd never in s thousand years-

“Yeah…..I’ll leave him alone…” Raze muttered under his breath before turning and walking away. Aaron watched in shock as he left, it was the first time he’d been caught in the act, maybe he just cut his losses. 

“He does that often?” the man asked, gesturing to Raze with his head. 

“Only when he has a place to be.” Aaron replied before turning to face the man, “Thank you for that sir, I really appreciate it.” he said kindly, truly grateful for his intervention. 

The man smiled, “Don’t sweat it, you'd do the same for me I'd hope.” he said jokingly. Aaron smiled, “My name’s Owen, Owen Brahnx.” he said, raising a hand at his introduction.

“Aaron Raeth.” Aaron greeted as he shook his hand. As soon as their hands touched, the teen felt like he was just shocked, a feeling of something passing over him like a gust of wind. And he could swear it was coming from Owen for some reason, releasing the hand, Aaron saw Owen had a curious gaze on him, “Um…..well I need to get to work…..again, thank you.” he said politely as he walked around him. 

As Aaron left, Owen watched him. Looking down at his palm he closed his fingers around it before smiling a little bit. “Heh. I should have known.” he said before continuing on his way towards the ship. 

(000)

Aaron’s mind wasn't with him today, it just kept replaying what happened with Raze over in his mind as he worked. As the teen loaded crates onto the pallet, he also thought of Owen, and how he had that strange feeling. But what bugged him is that he still had that feeling right now. 

It wasn't as strong but he flew like there was something in him, not like a gut feeling or anything but it felt…..warm. Like his day went just how he wanted it go, but even better.

Aaron decided to focus and put those thoughts aside for the time being. He still needed to finish loading supplies into a Blockade Runner.

Pushing the pallet up the swayed up the ramp, he was glad that this was the last of the boxes. He was kind of exhausted, one thing this job had going for it was the manual labor involved, he was a twig but he was also able to do something like this all day.

As the pallet dropped the last of the crates onto the floor, he turned around and pulled the cart out back down the ramp. Reaching the bottom, he felt weight suddenly added to the pallet, pushing him forward down the ramp.

His shoes skid him to a stop, turning around he saw what caused the sudden weight gain. One of the other workers, Raze’s friends, “Come on shithead, Raze wants to talk.” he said, Aaron suddenly felt a pair of strong hands grab him roughly by the shoulders and pull him away from the pallet. 

“No.” Aaron stated, his voice quivering slightly, digging his heels into the ground to try and stop. A foot collided with his lower back, making his legs buckle under his weight before being dragged away. 

Aaron lost time of how many times he told them to stop, screaming it out even, but getting a punch right in his face shut him up.

As he was dragged around the edge of town, dirt staining his shoes and pant legs, Aaron could honestly admit he wasn't afraid. This happened on more than once, when he didn't do something Raze wanted the right way this would happen. 

Rutan consisted mainly of forests and large lakes scattered throughout. So you didn't need to go far to find a good little secluded spot to do something like this. Nearing the edge of the forest, Raze was waiting for him, “So listen up bud, because of your friend back there, I had to work an hour longer than I wanted. Now how is that fair to me?” he asked as the two three Aaron to the ground in front of him.

Aaron looked up at Raze blankly, earning him a kick to the chin. Falling on his back, Aaron coughed out the air in his lungs as he rolled over onto his stomach. Raze grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back, “You really need to learn to respect me.”

“Like you respect me?” Aaron asked, covering his mouth as soon as the words left his mouth. That earned him a knee to the chin, talking without thinking doesn't help his situation. 

“Why would I respect someone like you?” he asked reeling another fist back. Aaron braced himself for the impact, the strike opening the wound on his temple from the day before. Aaron’s entire face was hurting. The teen wanted to hit back but what would that do?

It'd make things worse, that's what it'd do. And you know what? Anything I do makes it worse! Aaron thought as Raze cleaned his hand of the small amount of blood on the knuckles. And…...and I'm fucking sick of it! he cursed mentally. 

I'm tired of being a punching bag! I'm tired of my dad and brother treating this like it's not a big deal! 

Raze wound his fist back.

I WANT TO STOP BEING ME!

Aaron blindly flung his hand out, the feeling in his gut flared up as he felt a wave of something travel up his arm and blast into Raze, the force of the blast sent him off his feet into a tree, his arm snapping sickly as the elbow hit the bark. 

Aaron and Raze’s friends sateen in utter shock as the leader of the three cried out in pain, clutching his limb. “I-I-I-I didn't mean to-” Aaron started before a shoe kicked him in the side of the head, the two kept kicking him, not giving him a chance to recover.

As Aaron’s vision began to fade, he could hear someone calling his name before the kicks stopped. Kyle, it must have been Kyle. 

(000)

When Aaron awoke, he was hurting, his face felt like someone made a horde of people walk over it. Sitting up in bed, he realized he was back in his room, that's when he remembered what happened, how he somehow shoved Raze into the tree. 

He was in his normal clothes again as well. Walking to the door, he stopped when he heard Kyle, “-they were beating him dad! You're telling me-”

“Yes I am! Aaron brine the boy’s arm and his father is out for blood. And not to mention what they're saying!” his father stated.

“Raze deserved it! He took Aaron out there to beat the crap out of him! How are you not upset about this?!” he heard Kyle ask. 

“I am upset! I'm upset that your brother got us into this with whatever the hell he did!”

Aaron backed away from the door, he fell back onto the floor, shock clearly on his face at the revelation. His dad blamed him!? After everything……

“Well screw you too you bastard.” he growled out, tears leaking from his eyes as he began making his way to the window. Opening it up, he carefully climbed up into the window and gripped the edge with an iron grasp. Lowering himself over the edge, he let go dropped down to the ground. 

Taking a moment for his bruises to stop hurting, he made a break for the only place he could think of.

Sprinting down the streets as fast as he could, he was grateful that no one was around to see him. Raze got what he deserved, no doubt about it, but people where mad, and he didn't want to rub into anyone that may think otherwise.

Turning the corner, the spaceport came into view. Passing through the employee locker room, he slowed to catch his breath on the platform. It was sad to say Aaron had thought of this before, hiding in one of the crates and smuggling himself off world.

The problem was what then? Say he gets to another planet, what can he do then?

Aaron walked over to a group of containers and sat down on top of one of them. He let his head fall into his hands, “Oh god what the hell am I going to do?” he asked himself aloud.

“That is the question isn't it?” Aaron’s head snapped the voice, his feet were on the ground ready to run when he finally saw who spoke. Owen. “I could feel your frustration Aaron. And I also heard about what happened earlier.” he explained.

“Feel my-what do you mean?! What did you do to me!?” he asked, realizing that he was the last person he saw before he did whatever he did to Raze.

“I didn't do a thing. What you did has been within you since you were born Aaron.” he explained taking a few steps towards the teen before kneeling to look at him at eye level. “You're…...different from others. You can feel it can't you? Something passing through you when you open yourself to it?” he asked.

Aaron gulped before slowly nodding. “Aaron you have a connection, a connection to something that not everyone has. The Force.” he explained, causing Aaron’s eyes to widen significantly.

After moments of silence, he finally spoke up. “The…..the force…….you mean….you mean like Luke Skywalker? Like a Jedi?” he asked in awe. There wasn't a soul in the entire Galaxy who didn't know the great story of Luke Skywalker, how he helped bring about an end to the Empire and bring peace to the Galaxy for a time. 

Owen smiled before nodding, “Yes, like Luke Skywalker. I swear that's what everyone says when they first hear nowadays.” he said humorously.

Aaron was speechless, “So…..I can….I can be a Jedi?” he asked. It felt like he was a little kid, when everyone heard the stories they'd secretly wish being a Jedi was their destiny. But honestly it felt like a dream to Aaron, like this was all a crazy dream that he could wake up from. He even tried to a few times, but it didn't work.

“Well you have the potential to be a Jedi. And that's entirely different from being one.” Owen explained. He shifted his weight side to side, “But…..if you are willing. I can take you somewhere where you can learn what it means to become a Jedi. But the choice is yours.” Owen explained.

Aaron thought about it, really thought about it. In the back of his mind he had hoped that he things could be patched up here, that things would change for him. But he knew it was his word against Raze’s, and he always won that battle. 

And……..even if he did. He couldn't unhear what his father said. “Ok…….ok I'll do it.” he said nervously. 

Owen smiled, standing up he gestured to his ship. “Well then, if you're sure, follow me.” he said, walking towards his ship. Walking up the rear loading door, he followed Owen through the ship. “Even at hyperspeed it’s going to take a while to get where we need to go, month at the most.” he explained as they walked through a white hallway.

“You can sleep in this room. Now come on, you’ll want to see this.” He said, leading Aaron to the cockpit. The door slid up, showing a pair of seats. “Take a seat.” Owen offered, Aaron did as he said as Owen did the same.

Flicking a few switches then pressing a handful of buttons, the entire ship hummed to life. Aaron couldn't help but grin as he felt the ship begin to lift up off the ground. The rear ramp slid up into the ship before the door lowered down and closed down. The ship moved forward, as it traveled it slowly pointed upwards towards the sky.

Aaron felt his heart pound in his ribcage as they bribe through the clouds, the darkness of space stretching out indefinitely. “Woah….” 

“I know right?” Owen asked as he typed on the screen in the middle of the dash. “Now push that lever forward.” he said, gesturing to the handle in front of the control console. Aaron grasped the handle and slowly pushed forward, watching in awe as the lights of the stars stretched out past the ship before the Ship blasted into hyperspace.

As Aaron watched the swirling blue color of hyperspace, he smiled happily.

For the first time in a long time. This felt right.

AN: This Story is dedicated to Monty Oum, he was a huge inspiration for me that passed away one year ago today on February 1, 2015. While his fans mourned, his co workers asked that his fans make something creative to remember him by. 

Monty, we miss you, you were taken too soon and your work has affected so many people, we hope that you've found peace and are happy. 

R.I.P. Monty.


	2. Stranded

Stranded

 

Aaron was sure that he was dreaming. Waking up in bed on a starship felt completely surreal. Though he worked at a ship port for a good two years, the closest he had ever been to being inside a ship was the cargo holds for them. Rutan was on the end of a trading route, every ship that passed through was cargo ship most of the time.

Aaron pulled the covers off the bed and got dressed as carefully as he could, his bruises from yesterday still ached upon contact. Thought he has been through worse injury wise, he did break his arm when he was six when he and his brother were exploring the cliffs to the north of town. He had to have bacta applied through a metal brace for a few days afterwards.

Bacta was a substance that acted like part painkiller, part narcotic, and part cure all. And right now Aaron wished he was soaking in a full Bacta Tank to help improve his wounds. Physical and emotional. 

What his father said was still clear and present in his mind. He was thankful that his brother stood up for his sake once again but this time it just wasn't enough. And honestly? He believed he deserved better, his brother was loving and supportive of him but pushed him to be independent.

And his father…...he didn't want to think of that now, but their conversation said all that needed to be said. 

He never wanted to step foot in town again, maybe even the planet. But he knew that was his anger and sadness talking, but as of now, the thought of going back was out of the question. 

Walking out of his room, he made his way to the bridge. His footsteps echoed through the ship, Aaron honestly felt somewhat unnerved by the silence, Rutan was a busy spaceport. When he was little and had trouble sleeping, Kyle told him it helped him sleep listening to the sound of spaceships to take off and land. 

It took him a long time to sleep last night because you can't hear the ship's engines from the interior of the craft. The teen suddenly frowned, stopping in his tracks as he thought of Kyle. If his older brother ever found out where he was going, he was sure that he’d stop at nothing to convince him to go home.

And what worried him is that he actually could.

Aaron didn't speak his mind that often, mainly because when he did, no one would ever listen. So he just found that if no one listens then why bother in the first place? And usually when someone told him to do it, he just did it without arguing.

He pushed those thoughts aside for now before continuing on his way towards the bridge. The foods to the pilot room slid open, Owen was in the main seat simply leaning back and relaxing, “Um…...shouldn't you be steering?” Aaron asked as he sat down in the seat next to him.

Owen smirked, “Wow you've never actually been in a ship before have you?” he asked, slightly amused by the teen’s situation. Usually at least by Aaron's age someone has been in a starship, of course there were people who stay planetside for their whole life. But Rutan was a export and import planet, how he hadn't been on the inside of a ship was beyond him. 

“I've been on ships, but they all have been docked.” he pointed out, reaching his left arm over his right shoulder as he rotated his arm. 

Owen looked at him with sympathy, it was a little strange for Aaron to see it on someone other than Kyle. “How you feeling?” he asked with concern. 

Aaron shook his head, “Nah don't worry, I've taken worse beating than that.”

“Physical is one thing. Emotionally is another.” Owen said, giving him a knowing look. Aaron looked down at the floor, not meeting his eyes, “Look if you're having second thoughts about this it's ok, I'll just fly you back.” Aaron tensed up at that, “Or not! We can keep flying.” he said, quickly correcting himself.

Aaron shook his head, “No, no, no. I just…...I needed to leave.” he said, rather unconvincingly on his part. 

“You had to?” The Jedi questioned. “Your life is yours Aaron, you choose to leave.” he said, the teen sucked on his lips. The man sighed, “Aaron. You were dealt a bad hand, I'm not saying you weren't, but you should feel proud you made a choice like this on your own. Do you understand?” he asked. 

Aaron let that sink in, all his life he did what others said. Mainly because it made sense to do what they said, like getting a job, he needed income of course. Or walking to school, it was good exercise. But that also meant he didn't find reasons to argue. 

Why should I get a job where my tormentor works? ‘ Because it's the only place in the city with a job.’ Dad would say. he thought sadly. 

“Yeah it's just…...I'm nervous.” he admitted shyly.

Owen looked at him before a laugh bellowed from him, “Hahaha! Kid do you think I wasn't? I was terrified! In fact I was so nervous I just paced around the ship for hours on end until I had something to do and take my mind off it.” he explained, calming his laughter until he was simply smiling. “You're only mortal kid. Nervousness is good, it keeps you on your feet.” he reached over and patted him on the shoulder, “Got it?”

Aaron managed to smile at that, “Yeah. Got it.” he said before a beeping came from the console. “That's a good beeping right?” he asked. 

Owen turned to the control panel and pulled back on the throttle, hyperspace handed into back into darkness with stars stretching out in all directions. Directly in front of them was a lush green planet, “Our course was off somewhat, don't worry we just to get around Felucia and we’ll-” 

KABOOM!!!

Aaron was knocked out of his chair by a sudden impact hitting the ground, he rolled onto his back and pushed himself up into his elbows, “What the hell was that!?!” he asked, looking around the cod pit. The young man lifted himself up as the ship lurched again, nearly causing him to fall over again, but managed to grab the seat at the last moment.

“We’re getting shot at! Strap in, and don't touch anything!” Owen ordered. Aaron didn't complain as he buckled the safety harness in and held on to his armrests. Red lights on the console flashed, another explosion was heard, making Owen look at a circular screen where a diagram of the ship was. “Aaaaand that was our thrusters.”

Aaron's eyes widened, “That's bad right?” he asked, noticing the planet was getting bigger…..and bigger……

“It's definitely not good I'll tell you that.” he said as a shadow passed over them. Out in front of the ship was another one. 

Aaron recognized the ship, it’s design was based on old imperial ships but instead of a star fighter it was a cruiser. The center of the ship was a long sliver cylinder, on both the left and right sides were wings at pointed outwards towards the front, colored red. On the top and bottom where the weaponry. 

“So what do we do?” Aaron asked, clearly out of his element as he clung to his seat for dear life. “Because we got shot, and our thrusters are apparently out, and unless we manage to level out on the ground when we come down, WE ARE GOING TO DIE.” he said, the last part being a little extra loud.

Owen looked over and saw the fear on Aaron’s face, and he was honestly a little scared himself. Looking ahead, he grabbed the manual controls and pulled up, “Aaron I need you to do something.” he said, grabbing the teen’s attention. “The throttle to the ship, when I say so, I need you to pull back on it slowly. Ok?” he asked. 

The teen nodded, reaching out and grabbing the throttle with one hand tightly holding it. “When I say, got it?” Owen asked, Aaron nodded. 

The ship broke through the childlike, smoke poured from the rear of the ship as it fell down towards the surface. “Not yet.” Open said, seeing Aaron’s arm ready to yank the throttle back. 

Aaron was shaking in his seat, his breathing was static as hell and his heart rate was skyrocketing. I am going to die here. he thought, a feeling numbness going over his body as that thought crossed his mind. 

“Wait.” Owen said, the ship pulling up somewhat. “Ok now!” he ordered. Aaron had to stop himself from yanking back on the throttle. Dragging it back was honestly the one of the hardest thing he’s ever had to do, his instincts telling him to pull it back with all his might. 

The ship tipped back at an angle, the cone of heat gathering at the front of the craft blocked Aaron’s sight out the window. The ship kept colliding with something on the underside of the craft, causing the entire ship to go through something resembling turbulence but much worse. A sudden Merck forward would have sent him through the window, but the harness caused his head to collide with the back of the seat. 

Owen looked over to see the teen slumped in his chair, knocked out from his collision with the chair. “Well…...that may be what's best for you.” he muttered. The ship collided with something solid. “And that's the ground!” he yelled out suddenly before pushing forward on the controls so they dug into the ground. 

The ship went from turbulence go constant shaking, before finally stopping. Owen leaned back in his seat, letting out a long breath of relief. “Oh thank the force.” he breathed out before looking over at Aaron. Unstrapping himself from his seat, he unclasped the teen’s harvest and locked him up over his shoulder and carried him. “Come on kid. We got a long hike ahead of us.” he said before walking out of the control room.

(000)

Aaron’s head hurt. 

To be fair after what happened he shouldn't be surprised. But…..wait what happened? he thought as he tried to think back to what happened. He could feel he was moving, not on his own but his legs weren't moving, opening his eyes, he saw his arms dangling in front of him as the ground moved. “Uhhhggggg….what?” he quietly asked.

He stopped moving somewhat abruptly, “Aaron you awake?” Owen asked, picking him up and setting him down on the ground. The teen’s head was pounding from the impact, rubbing the back of his head, he flinched when he brushed up against a growing bump. Looking up at Owen, he saw that they were no longer in the duo, but in the ground.

They were in a forest of some sort, the plants resembled that of what free close to the ground but was magnified to go above their heads. A few of them even glowed, “What happened?” he asked, his head turning around and taking in the beauty of the planet. 

He hardly left his hometown, a new planet was a lot to take in for him. “The ship crashed. We made it out in one piece thankfully.” Owen said as he reached his hand out to Aaron. The teen took it, being hoisted up into his feet, Aaron looked back to where they came from, the smoke from the crash could be seen for miles. “Before I got us out, I got the ship’s nav computer. There's a settlement a few clicks away. If we keep up our pace we could reach it by the end of the day.” Owen explained.

Aaron stared up at him for a moment, “Ok…...what's a click?”

“A mile.” Owen simplified. 

“And The nav computer bit? he asked.

Owen pulled back on the sleeve of his cloak, a small device was around his wrist. Pressing down on one of the keys on the device, a holographic image of the planet projected onto the air in front of Aaron. On the planet was a number of red dots, “The dots are known ports and towns, it's kind like Rutan in that refused, no cities but it has ports we can get a ship at.” Owen explained before pressing a button, making the hologram disappear.

He looked at Aaron, “Now look, like I said it's gonna be hike, but this place can be dangerous. So stay close. Ok?” he asked. Fellucia was well known for it’s hostile wildlife. It's why there were so few settlements on the planet, people were too afraid to expand their territories for fear of getting killed by the wildlife.

Aaron nodded, as Owen took the lead and started walking through the forest. For the most part the forest wasn't thick with trees and bushes, most of the flora rose above their heads, and traversing the forest floor was surprisingly easy. 

The pair made their way over the side of a hilltop, all the while Aaron followed behind Owen closely as instructed. His head though couldn't stay still, for all his life he had stayed in his small town, and right now he was starting to realize just how tiny that was compared to the Galaxy. Back home he felt insignificant, if he were to go back…….he’d feel microscopic. 

“Hey did you hear me?” Owen asked, making the teen snap his head at him attentively. The two paused in their walk, “I asked if you hear that?” he asked. The two stayed still and quiet, listening to the rustling of the brush, the wind blowing through the beaches and the flora creaking with movement. 

And through that Aaron heard it, “What's purring?” he asked in a whispered. 

Owen’s hand lowered to his side, “No. That's growling.” he said before suddenly shoving Aaron aside, sliding across the ground a good six feet. Owen rolled sideways as a claw-like limb dig into the soil, stopping in a hand and knee, his left hand was extended outward with what looked like a handle to Jason in it. 

PSSSHHEW!

From the end of the handle ignited a green light about six feet long. In between them stood a huge creature, a mixture of crustacean and reptile, it stood on four legs little over three meters off the ground. It’s neck stretched out from the body a few feet, it’s teeth were razor sharp to a point and its head craned back into a rough shape. The entire creature was shades of green, and it did not look friendly.

It let out a shrill cry before looking at Owen, Aaron wanted to run, he wanted to run as fast as he possibly could. But his body outright refused to move, fear kept him in place like he was chained to the ground itself. 

The creature skittered forward, raising one of it’s claws and jabbing it at Owen. The Jedi stood and rolled his body around the claw, the limb barely touching him before he swung the blade up and cut through the flesh, the beast screamed in pain as it recoiled back, it's legs trying to compensate for the loss of the limb. 

It pandered back into the brush, letting out wounded whimpers as it retreated back into the forest. Aaron remained frozen in his spot as the green blade was sheathed and Owen approached him, “Aaron! Are you alright?” he asked with concern as he got on a knee beside him.

The teen raise a shaking finger and pointed it the direction the creature disappeared to. “W-W-W-What was that!?!?” he stuttered out, his mind still processing the events he just laid witness to. 

Owen looked back as he placed the hilt back in place on his belt, “That, was an Arklay. They're very territorial, we must have wandered too close to it’s nest.” he surmised, as he returned his focus to the teen. He was still shaking, “Hey.” he put a hand on his shoulder, making Aaron snap his head at him, “You're scared. I get it, but right now you can't be, ok?” he asked. “You can be later, but right now the only way u can make sure your safe is if you aren't afraid…..ok?” 

Aaron let the words sink in before nodding, “I…..I can try.” 

Owen sucked in his lips, “That's all I can ask you right now.” he decided, holding out his hand to the teen. Aaron grabbed it before being lifted up onto his feet. “You good?” he asked. Aaron nodded before the Jedi started to get back on track, faster than before, “We need to keep ahead of them.” 

Aaron’s eyes widened, he did mention that they must be close to a nest. And it did stand to reason that there would be more than one of those creatures, but the idea that it was coming back with family? It made him start running a little faster. 

Owen was running beside him, the two running through the brush and knocking down leafs as they ran. Aaron dared to glance back and he regretted it, the one missing the leg was not along, it trailed behind while three slightly smaller Arklay led in front. 

Owen grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him towards the right, leading him into a more thick brush. The two jumped over a fallen coral like tree, the brush was slowing the Ackley down enough for them to put some distance. As the pair broke through the brush, Aaron abruptly stumbled to a stop.

In front of them was a gorge, over twelve feet of air between the ground. 

Owen didn't stop, he charged on towards the ledge. “No wait!!” Aaron called out before Owen leapt into the air. At best Aaron figured that he would hit the wall of the cliff, but he flew to into the air over ten feet and landed on the other side. Turning around he cursed under his breath. 

Owen ran to the edge, “Aaron you need to jump!” he called out. 

The teen inched towards the ledge and looked down. It was a long way down, he couldn't tell exactly how long but long enough that he couldn't see the bottom through the darkness. “I'm sorry but no fucking way! I am not jumping that!!” he shouted back, pointing at the seemingly bottomless pit. The shrill cry from the forest made him look back. 

So my options are either be ripped apart or fall to my death. the teeth thought as he ran a hand down his face. 

Owen looked into the forest then back to the teenager, “Aaron do you trust me?” he asked, the teen looked at him like he was crazy. “Look I can get you across! But you need to trust me and jump! I promise you'll make it!” he called out. 

Aaron looked between the forest and Owen, the man who let him come with him on his ship, the one who told him he could become a actual Jedi, the one who hasn't once steered him wrong yet. The one man who actually let him make his own choice……...falling to death it is.

Aaron took a few steps back, he inhaled and exhaled rapidly as the Arklay finally began to catch up. He bolted forward just as the younger creatures came out from the forest and chased after him. Having four legs tend to make you faster, they easily closed in on Aaron and the cliffside.

Owen reached an arm out as he jumped, when Aarok was airborne Owen pulled in the arm, Aaron felt something push him from behind and rocket him towards the other side of the gorge as one of the Arklay slipped off and fell into the crevice. Rolling across the ground, Aaron stopped on his back and say up, watching as the creatures patterned around the edge. 

“I…..you…..what…….” he muttered as Owen walked over beside him and patted his shoulder. The teen looked up at the smiling man, “What…..what was that?” he asked, “The….the…” he stretched his arm out and pulled it inward, trying to replicate the motion the Jedi had done. 

“That was the Force…...well a Force Pull, but still, the Force.” he explained, pulling the Teen up onto his feet. Aaron wavered, his steps were uneven as he walked away and threw up. The Jedi grimaced, “Oh…….yeah I'm not exactly surprised, you know, given what just happened.” he said, walking over and running the teen’s back to try and comfort him. “How do you feel?” 

After spitting out some bile, Aaron stood and looked at him. “I just ran from….those things-” he gestured to the Arklays still standing at the edge, roaring at the two across the gorge. “-and jumped over a fricking gorge.” he started. He smiled, “I feel…...great.” he answered finally. 

Owen smiled, “That's just about what I expect…..come on, I think we cut down distance between us and the settlement. We keep up the pace and we’ll be there by nightfall.” he said, walking at a comfortable pace towards the settlement.

As they walked, Aaron glanced over at Owen’s weapon. He the hilt of the weapon hung at his side on his belt, the end if it sticking to s plate on the belt. 

The blunt end was in a gear-like design, it didn't take up much space it was the same diameter as the rest of the weapon. The hilt itself was half silver from the the bottom and the other half was black with groves for a better grip. The emitter stuck out from the hilt itself, colored gold before being called off and a small bronze color coming out from that before finally ending with s black bell shaped end with a small pipe poking out the middle with in the bell. 

“Your staring at my lightsaber right?” Owen said aloud, making the teen look up at him before looking away. The man couldn't help but smile, “Aaron there's not single person alive who wouldn't find it cool.” he said, grabbing the hilt and sliding it off image metal plate and holding it out to the teen. 

Aaron was a little hesitant, but eventually he took it from his hand. “Just don't look at the emitter. I hear cybernetic eyes aren't cheap.” he said, making the young man at arm’s length for his own safety. 

“It's…..heavy.” he noted, feeling the weight in his hands. The way he easily used it earlier with the creature, he was so fast he saw the swing cut so fast and so cleanly through the creature’s flesh. Like a hot knife through butter…...and for all intensive purposes that was what he witnessed. “So Jedi use lazer swords-”

“Lightsabers.” Owen corrected.

“-lightsabers to fight? I mean…..with blasters and all…” he trailed off, not completely understanding the logic. You can wave a twig as much as you want but when someone throws something like paper or rocks at you?

“It deflects blaster bolts.” he replied simply, making the teen stare at the blade with a small look of awe. Owen couldn't help but smile at the familiar look, the same one he had when he first held the sword in his own two hands. “The lightsaber is more than a weapon, it's a tool, it's not just for defending yourself and others, but just because it's a tool doesn't make it any less dangerous.” he explained. 

Aaron nodded as he handed it back to the Jedi, “So all Jedi have them?” he asked.

Owen nodded, “Lightsabers have been weapons of the Jedi for centuries. In fact back when the Jedi were first formed…..” he trailed off before skirting out a chuckle. “Sorry kid, this is all boring stuff. You don't wanna hear it.”

Aaron shook his head, “No, no! I mean I wanna hear it.” he quickly said, finding the topic interesting. 

Owen looked at him with surprise, “Oh. Well you see-” He stated as the two leisurely walked through the forest, the two of them simply talking as they made their way closer to the settlement. 

(000)

It was nightfall by the time they reached the town. The sun had set and the Stars had taken their place on the sky. The settlement was similar to Aaron’s home in some ways, the buildings weren't too large and there was a fairly big spaceport on the edge of the town. But the way the entire settlement was made on stilts was what he noticed right away. 

The town was over a large lake, held up by a number of support beams and stilts. Aaron couldn't help but let his eyes wander around as he followed Owen through the city to the spaceport. Crossing over a transparent bridge, he looked down and Saar a boat filled with baskets of water life pass underneath. 

As they sort paced the starship port, Aaron took a seat at a bench and waited as Owen talked to one of the pilots, but Aaron could only just sit down and rest. The lack of sleep combined with the events of today made him want to fall over dead. 

Laying down on the stone bench, he tucked his arm and used it as a pillow to rest his head on. He listened to the sound of humming engines, the footsteps of people passing by, the stomping of a passing GOK droids, he simply laid and listened to the sounds of the port. 

Aaron felt someone touch him, making him open his eyes to see Owen standing over him. Aaron sat up and rubbed his eyes, “I'm up, I'm up.” he murmured out loud enough for Owen to hear. Standing up from the seat, Aaron rubbed the sleep that gathered in his eyes as the Jedi lead him by the shoulder towards the docks.

“I managed to convince a captain of one of the ships to give us passage most of the way.” he explained as he led Aaron towards the ship. The starship…...it….well if Aaron were to put it politely he would call it an antique, or at the very least a fairly old looking ship. 

Aaron had seen one like it back on Rutan’s port. What was it called? he thought, Oh yeah! It's an….an….Dynamic-Class Frieghter. It’s general shape was an half circle with the cod put pointing out from the center in a rectangle, to the left of it the shape dipped inwards towards the center in a blunt end rectangle. To the right of the cockpit was a small bump outwards holding one of the forward guns. 

The ship stood on six support legs to carry its mass, on the rear were two large engines side by side over the ramp leading into the ship itself. 

“It's not the Ebon Hawk.” Aaron jumped at the voice, from behind one of the struts stepped out a man. He stood around Owen’s height, he wore a brown aviator jacket with the sleeves shortened to his forearms, his arms were covered by a red sweater with a few snags in it. He had a pair of cargo pants on with holsters on both his hips housing blasters.

The man had ginger colored hair that was was wild hair and a matching goatee. “See, people think as soon as they see the ship, they think that right away. But it's not.” he explained to the teen. Aaron simply kept quiet, both from exhaustion, and from nervousness. The man stared at him, awaiting some form of retort before turning to Owen, “Doesn't talk much does he?” he asked.

“Kid’s shy is all.” Owen said, patting the teen on the shoulder. “Aaron, this is Fergus. He’s our pilot.” he introduced, the pilot holding his hand out to greet him. Aaron gripped his hand and shook it tentatively before letting his hand slide out of his. 

Fergus gave the teen a strange look, Well someone's not entirely motivated. he thought. “Well, me, Mori and Lance will take will take you two on our route but we’ll only go so far as Arkana.” he explained. 

Mori? Lance? Aaron mentally questioned. He heard two heavy sets of footsteps behind him. 

Turning around, he was met with a Ithorian, the eyes of the curved head looked down at him. He wore a short sleeved shirt and blue pants with a small blaster sliver it's back. Both mouths on the sides of it’s neck spoke, ‘This the child?’ he asked.

The alien beside him was a Aqua skinned Rodian, a yellow vest zipped up over a orange shirt. ‘Do you have to say it like that? It's creepy. He's a kid, not a child.’ he reviled in his own language.

Fergus abut down on his lip as he shifted his footing, “You both know he's here right? Right in front of you, for god's sake have some manners.” he said to the both of them. “The Rodian is Mori and Lance is the other one.” he said, introducing the Jedi and teen to his crew mates. 

Mori rolled his eyes, ‘Don't be like that, not like he knows what we’re saying.’ he said, folding his arms over his chest. He glanced at Aaron who stared back at him before looking at his freeware, ‘He can't understand us right?’ he asked.

Lance put a hand on his hip, ‘Oh now you're asking that?’

‘I sorta understand you.’ Aaron said, mimicking Rodin language. ‘My Rodin is no all good.’ he explained, looking down at the ground. Lance and Mori looked at one another, both somewhat embarrassed from being caught by only a teenager.

Fergus let out a chuckle, “Well well well! He does speak, and not just Basic.” he complimented, Aaron looking at him with more confidence. “Where'd you pick up Rodin?” he inquired.

Aaron dubbed the back of his head, diverting his eyes, “Rutan. I worked at the spaceport there” he explained briefly as Lance and Mori walked past them and into the ship. Owen smiled as he followed them inside with Fergus and Aaron following close behind him.

“Ah your a port side. Never been off planet until now?” Fungus headed as they combed up the ramp and into the loading bay of the ship. 

Aaron nodded, “Yeah, though I didn't always have a reason to leave.” he explained. The two walked through an intersection towards the center of the ship where the main hold where a circular table was set up with a half circular couch was set up. 

“Yeah? So no interest to fly though?” the pilot asked. He had to have lost count of how many luggage carriers, port attendants, or just anyone wanted to know how to fly. Especially when his ship looks like one of the most famous ships ever.

Aaron shook his head and actually smiled, “No, no, I'm terrified of the idea……...besides I don't want to accidently crash into the Ebon Hawk look alike.” he said, a joking tone in his voice. 

Fergus let out a hardy laugh, “Hahaha! True. I called her the Copycat because of that. No one is gonna mess with what has to be one of the most legendary ships in the galaxy. Well one that looks like it anyway.” he explained. The pilot gestured behind Aaron, “You and your friend’s room is setup, just follow that hall to the end, last door.” he explained.

Aaron nodded before turning and heading that way. His power nap was refreshing of course, but he needed a full sleep. Entering the bunk room, he saw that Owen had taken up residence on one of the bunk beds on the low bed. Aaron simply walked over to the bed and climbed the small later to the top bed and climbed into it. 

When his head rested against the pillow, sleep started to drag him into her arms.

He heard the ship’s engine’s start, the liftoff, and the flight. All starships had a gravity engine that produces it’s own gravitational pull so no matter what position one was flying in, it wouldn't effect them entirely. So Aaron didn't float around in his bed when the ship reached space. 

But he did fall out of bed as a torpedo explosives on the hull of the ship. 

Aaron groaned as he sat up, Owen was already up and out of the bed. “What the hell?” he muttered before the sound of a muffled explosion was heard, making him look up. “Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!” he groaned out in frustration as he got up into his feet with Owen’s help. 

Aaron followed the Jedi through the ship to a sliding door, when it opened the bridge was revealed. Out the window was a ship.

The same one that shot them down. 

Owen clenched his jaw, “Well that's coming full circle of I've ever seen it.” he muttered.

Next Time: Cargo.

AN: So it's been two months since I published this and I've clearly been dragging my ass on this. Now I want to point out a few things, English in Star Wars is actually called Basic, mainly because it is one of the most easy languages to learn.

Now as for Owen’s lightsaber, I could try and describe it with words all day but showing us better than telling. So if you want to see the weapon, it's on my deviantart page under the same name here. 

Now I also want to say that I wasn't able to pinpoint where Falucia was in the star wars universe location wise, only that it is in the same sector as Rutan (outer rim worlds). 

Also the Arkley’s are the creatures that Obi-Wan fought in the arena in Episode Twi. Fun Fact, they are actually able to wield the force and use force lightning, in rare cases. 

Now the reason I used the same ship class as the Copycat as for the Ebon Hawk is because I've only Oum's so many ship types so far. But I'm still looking into it. 

Now next chapter won't take as long as this one I promise you guys, until then Star Wars fans.


	3. Cargo

Cargo

Aaron didn't know if this was pure coincidence, or if he and Owen were just plain unlucky. Of course crashing into the planet was just them being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But running into the same ship, on a different vessel? In the span of full planet rotation cycle?

Well after being lifted across a small gorge with nothing physically supporting him, his idea of luck was starting to wear thin. “Are we going to die?” Aaron outright asked, his mind thinking back to how the ship blasted Owen’s down with such ease. 

Fergus grasped the throttle as well as the control wheel, “No we’re not.” Owen answered as the ship dived forward dipping under the opposing ship. The teen fell back into Owen who barely managed to stay upright. 

“Seat belts everyone!” Fergus shouted as the ship shot past the other. The opposing ship turned around as fast as it could and flew after The Copycat. The old imperial craft fired at it’s target, green lasers flew by as the shop banked to the left to dodge the attacks. Fergus flipped a few switches on the console, “Mori get in the gunner seat and shoot back!” he ordered, the Rodian nodded before getting up from his seat and going back down the hall and heading to the gunner position.

“Are you sure we're not gonna die? Because I got the strong the strong inclination that we are gonna die!” Jason shouted as the entire ship tumbled from a blast that hit the top of the ship. 

The ship jerked upwards, “Kid it's just pirates, we’re not gonna get killed by some dumb pirates.” Fergus said confidently as the ship spun to avoid more laser blasts. Aaron scrambled into the seat that Mori occupied moments ago, beside him, Fergus was glancing on the dashboard where the screen showed what was behind them. 

Red laser bolts fired from the top of the Copycat back at the ship, a few blots glazing the wings of the ship. “Aw shit it's got reflectors shields on. It's gonna take something stronger to take it down.”  
he said as he banked towards one of the moons orbiting Felucia. There were eight in total, all of them fairly well sized. 

“Look I got an idea but I like having a backup plan. Worst case we get damaged and they board us. Any ideas?” Fergus asked as the ship skimmed along the surface of the moon. 

‘Hide in the cargo bay and ambush them?’ Lance suggested. 

Owen shook his head, “Wouldn't work, this rig needs at least three people to fly and fire. And neither me or my young friend look the part. No offense.” he explained after getting a somewhat critical look from Lance. The Jedi and Aaron both looked less…..space savvy, than the crew of the Copycat. 

“None taken.” Fergus said with a shrug before the ship was hit again. A few of the lights on the console flashed red and beeped. “Aaaaand they just damaged our engines.” Fergus drawled out before turning back to Aaron, “Ok now we may die.”

The ship slowed to a stop, the ship drifting in orbit above the moon 

“No we’re not! Quit saying that.” Owen said as he put a hand reassuringly on Aaron’s shoulder. “So we got two options. We can either hide and wait for them to find us, or just surrender and let them take whatever they want and possibly blast us when they're done.” he surmised. “Any more ideas? Anyone?” 

Aaron cleared his throat, making the three eyes in the cod pit look at him. “I um…..I may have an idea.” he said. 

Before he could further explain, the console lit up, a hologram of a man projected in front of the window. The man was covered in armor, it was work and rusted but it didn't give out yet, he also had metal on his face, going around from his left eye, now a cybernetic implant with a glowing green ocular iris, went around the side to his ear. ‘Attention crew of the ship whose engine’s I just disabled. You have two options, grant us boarding permission, give us your cargo, and we let you drift there for someone else to find and rescue.” Aaron looked at Fergus, the man grimaced.

“Or we’ll blow you out of the sky and savage your cargo. So save us both some time and trouble, and just surrender.” the man stated plainly. “You have ten minutes to respond before we just blow you out of space.” he finished, before the transmission cut off. 

Fergus grit his teeth, he turned back to Aaron, “Thos plan of yours. Does it involve me getting to shoot that smug little prick?” he asked. Aaron gulped, he honestly didn't want anyone to get hurt, but one thing his brother taught him was to defend himself. And if that meant someone had to die….

“Maybe…...but I seriously don't want to shoot someone. As long as you do it, I'm fine with it.” he responded, nodding as Fergus grinned. 

“Ok kid. You got eight minutes to convince me.” 

(000)

Within seven minutes, the old imperial ship was beside the Copycat, the docking tubes of both connecting to one another. Mori, Lance, and Fergus stood in front of the tube. Each of them with unhappy looks on their faces, ‘Are we sure this is gonna work?’ the Ithorian asked. 

“Not at all.” Fergus answered plainly before the circle doors pulled apart, revealing six men in similar armor as their captain, who proudly stood in front of his men with his E-20 blaster in his hands, the older brother to the E-11 but had a shorter barrel and a rapid fire mode. The Pirates walked past their captain and surrounded the crew, one of them grabbed Fergus’s blaster on his right hip, “Aw come on, you're taking our cargo. Do you want the sink too?” he asked. 

The Gungan pirate looked at the captain, the cybernetic shrugged, “Salt in the wound. Just get the cargo.” he said nonchalantly. the Gungan huffed before shoving the blaster pistol back into Fergus’s chest. Two more of the Pirates followed the Gungan into the ship. 

Passing through the lounge the three pirates entered the cargo hold, with about ten crates in total. Each of them walked to one of the storage crates and pressed the button on the side of each, activating the anti-gravity engines, causing the boxes lift up off the ground slightly. Pushing the crates back towards their ship. 

Fergus glared at the captain, “So you're the Pirates I've heard about. The locals were saying that you guys were shooting down ships over Felucia.” the pilot commented, making the captain of the opposing ship smirk. 

“Hmph. Pirates. I guess that's pretty accurate.” he said with a shrug. “Honestly this isn't personal, just business. We usually just do one ship a day, but last one crashed planetside, we spent all day combing the wreck and found Jax and shit. And Jax left town.” he explained, Fergus kept staring him down. “Like I said, it's must business.” 

As the two spoke, the Gungan and his two friends pushed the cargo crates into their own ship’s hold. Unlike the Copycat’s, theirs was full of other boxes taken from other ships that had fallen prey to them. “Puttha crates over thersa.” the Gungan instructed, pointing to the corner just as he disengaged the antigravity engines, making the box hit the ground with a thud.

“Ow!” the three all looked to the crate the Gungan just dropped. The Gungan pulled off the lid and looked in the crate, inside was a teen, running the back of his head where he hit the crate. “Uh…...me speak no basic.” he said, imitating a bad pronunciation of the words. The Gungan raised his blaster with both hands and pointed at the stowaway, Aaron’s face paled slightly as he gulped.

The lid of the box between the Pirates shot open, Owen stood and flung his arms out, the two prorated were sent flying across the room as he reached for his lightsaber and ugnitired it as the Gungan turned and fired blindly. Owen held the blade out and away from his center and held the blade across his center, deflecting the blaster bolts away from him as well as the Gungan so a stray ahot didn't hit Aaron.

The teen meanwhile looked around and grabbed the lid to the box and swung it at the Gungan’s head with enough force to make him stumble before collapsing. Aaron looked at the pirate, then at the lid, “Oh my god I just hit! Wait, is he dead!?! Oh god I killed him!” he said in a panic as Owen got out of the box and walked over.

“You didn't kill him, you just knocked him out cold. Nice swing by the way.” he said, liking the Gungan with his foot, when the alien groaned, Aaron felt immense relief. “Now you wanna stay in there or…” he trailed off, meaning to be joking.

“I do work better in boxes.” Aaron muttered before stepping out of the crate as the green blade faded back into the handle. The two extend the cargo bay and towards the codpit.

“So it's working so far. What's the next step?” Owen asked, offering the teen to take the lead. 

Aaron raised both his hands as they walked towards the controls, “Hey I expected this to fail. What happens now? Go nuts.” he said dismissively. Owen let out a small huff before igniting his lightsaber and slashing through the controls a number of times, sparks flew from the console, making Aaron take a cautious step back. The ship started making a loud alarm sound, “Ok…….now what?” Aaron asked.

The pirate leader looked back down the tube to his ship, Fergus grinned. His hand reached for his blaster on his hip and fired rapidly, nailing three of the men in the gut before drawing his other blaster and lining it up with the pirate captain’s forehead. “Yeah, see about that whole just being bussiness thing?” he asked. 

He fired, killing the pirate, “My ship is pretty personal. Not business.” he said before bolstering both his blasters. The remaining pirates retreated back to their ship, as they disappeared into the vessel, down the tube walked the Jedi and Aaron, the latter of which taking care not to look to closely at the bodies and not stepping on them. 

Fergus pulled the teen over and ruffled his hair, “You brilliant little bastard! I can't believe your plan worked!” he said happily as Lance and Mori dragged the bodies into the ship. Owen shut the door, disconnecting the ships as the tube retracted back to the pirate ship. “Mori get the cargo out of the wall, Lance get to work on the engine.” he said as he tried and started towards the cockpit. 

Aaron stayed by the door. Leaning his back against it he slid down it so he was sitting on the ground. His plan worked. That fact alone was stunning, Aaron was the first to admit he wasn't a genius, if anything he liked history above everything else. “You ok?” Aaron looked up to see Owen looking down at him. “You did good today, you should be proud of that.” 

Aaron tucked one of his legs close to his chest, “I just didn't think it would work. I mean that was like…...the first time anyone listened to me…..kinda weird.” he admitted, smiling a tad. 

Owen kneeled down in front of him, a look of sympathy spread across his face. “The amount of self doubt you have is staggering, you know that?” he asked. Aaron stayed silent, flustered to admit that he was right. Owen sighed before taking a seat next to him, “Aaron there's not a single living being alive that hasn't had doubts.” he placed a hand on the teen’s shoulder, “But you can't let that worry you over everything.” he said wisely. 

Aaron snorted, “You're a Jedi. You got magic powers and a lightsaber. I mean we could have fought them head on and we would have won without a problem.” he noted. 

Owen sighed, “I thought you would of all people would understand that doesn't matter.” he said, making Aaron look at him quizzically. Owen grabbed his lightsaber and rolled it in his hand, “How often did you get the crap beat out of you?” he asked bluntly.

Aaron gave him a look, “If your trying to make me feel better then you really need to work on it.” he said factly. The Jedi looked at him, his gaze showing he was serious, “......like last night? Maybe once in awhile, but overall I got a little taste every day, or maybe a few name callings. But last time was the worst. What are you getting at?” he asked. 

Owen sucked in his lips, “You ever thought about…...giving up?” he asked hesitantly. 

Aaron froze at that, the bullying was severe…...as well as consistent. “I may have…...considered it.” he admitted. The secret was something that he had kept to himself for a few years now, not even Kyle knew about it. 

Owen was silent for a moment before speaking. “And you're still here. Do you doubt that decision?” he asked.

“What? No of course not.” he answered. 

Owen seemed relieved at that, “Why?” he asked simply.

Aaron shrugged, “I realized that…...if I did give up…..take the easy way out? Then it's all pointless, everything I did up to that point? It’d just be wasting what little I may be worth.” he explained.

Owen smiled, “So what you're saying is that doubting yourself so much, would it be just a waste then?” he asked. Aaron thought that over, if he had spent all the time he had doubting himself, doubting his actions and worrying over what would be nothing, then what was the point in the first place. “Like I said, doubt is natural. But you can't let yourself dwell on it.” he explained.

The ship suddenly shifted, “Looks like we’re moving.” Owen noted before standing up. Offering a hand to Aaron, the teen smiled before taking it. 

“Be honest though. Did you know my plan would work?” he asked. Owen looked at him, silently asking if any of the previous conversation sunk in, “Hey call it constructive criticism.” 

“Next time, I would really like you to think past step two.” Owen said, before parting his shoulder. “But improvisation is part of the job. Good thing you think we'll under pressure.”

Aaron grimaced, “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.” he quickly replied as they both made their way to the cockpit. Outside the widow was the pirate starship. The craft being pulled down to the moon by the gravity of the small satiate. “So…..what's stopping them from dying out here? I don't want then to suffocate.” he asked.

Fergus smirked. “Would that really be so bad?” he asked. 

“Yes.” Owen and Aaron both replied at once. 

The pilot shrugged, “Fine fine fine, I'll deploy a rescue beacon. Hopefully someone will come out here and find them or something.” he said, pulling a lever on the console, a small probe shot out from the Copycat towards the pirate’s ship. “Happy?” Fergus asked, “Because my ship has more debts on it than there's. I could shoot the engines-”

“No.” Owen said plainly. 

The pilot rolled his eyes, “Jedi don't know a good joke do they?” he asked as the ship steered away from the moon and towards the stars. “Next stop, Malastare.” he said as he typed coordinates into the keypad on the wall to his left. Pushing the throttle forward and turning the handle, the ship’s hyperdrive kicking into gear, the ship shooting off into the depths of space.

(000)

Malastare was far different from Rutan and Felucia, as soon as Aaron stepped off the ship, his eyes had to adjust to just how dark it was. The sky was all but covered in clouds, letting only so much sunlight come through to the surface of the planet. The city that they docked at was surrounding, it wasn't a huge city, most of it was five story buildings that surrounded a large hole in the ground with the spaceport surrounding the run if the hole, walking towards the ledge, Aaron looked over the railing. 

It had taken about ten hours, most of the time Aaron had used to get some well deserved sleep. He had assumed that jumping to lightspeed made traveling instant, but in fact it can take up to several hours to reach a destination. 

Owen had asked him to stay at the port while he helped Lance gather some food for the rest of the ride, which he was completely fine with. But with not much else to do, he decided to inspect the seemingly bottomless pit.

And as much as he tried to resist, he couldn't ignore his basic instinct. 

He spat over the side and watched it fall into the pit. Fergus walked up beside him. “You hear the story behind the pit?” he asked. He himself had been to Malastare regularly, the planet was known for it’s starship fuel. Considered perhaps the best in the galaxy, it was exclusively produced from the planet itself. 

Aaron thought over for a moment, “Wasn't it from the…..the….Clone Wars? Like, a bomb or something?” he asked, trying to think back to his history on the war. There was a lot that went on during that era, honestly it was one of the time periods that always made him stop and think a few minutes before answering. He was more familiar with the Galactic Civil War if anything.

Fergus smirked, “That's only half the story.” he gestured down to the hole, “See the Republic dropped this big ass bomb on the droid forces, the ground imploded and took all the droids fell in.” he explained. “But then, out from the hole climbed the Zillo Beast!” he said dramatically. 

Aaron looked at him blankly, “Really?”

“Serious.” Fergus said with a nod. “The beast came out of the ground after being disturbed from it’s slumber.” he explained, Aaron looking down, suddenly feeling that spitting in a hole wasn't the brightest idea in the galaxy. “Sounds like something out of a movie eh?” he asked. Aaron nodded, Fergus scratched the back of his head, “Look kid, I really am grateful you helped saved our hides back there.” he said, truly grateful.

Aaron shrugged, “I just said the first thing that came to mind.” he said dismissively. 

Fergus bit the inside of his cheek. He was truly grateful for the teen’s help in retaking the ship. Looking back towards the copycat, he looked at Aaron before smirking, “Hey I need a hand with something, you busy?” he asked.

Aaron looked at him, “I’m standing by a railing hawking spit into a hole.” he stated plainly before Fergus led him by the shoulder towards the ship. Entering the Starcraft they made their way through the ship and into the cockpit. Fergus festered to the co-pilot seat beside his for Aaron to take a seat. “So what do you need me to do?” he asked as the ship started to lift off from the ground. “Uhhh…..what are we doing?” 

“Well I’m are going for a flight. But you're the one who’s flying.” he said, making Aaron’s eyes widen. “I figure that the guy who saves my ship should get a chance to fly it.” he explained as he stood up from his seat. Aaron looked unsure, he saw ships all his life sure, but the closest thing he ever got to piloting was was when Owen let him engage hyperdrive on his ship. 

The teen thought about his cover station with Owen. This probably wasn't what he meant when he said not to doubt himself all the time…..but the talk helped. “Ok…..so what do I-” he started before taking the seat. 

“Ok first, learn the controls.” Fergus started, pointing to the floor, “Stretch your feet out until you feel the pedals.” he said. Aaron looked at the floor under the control panel and set his feet up against the pedals. “Now those control pitch, press left to go left. right to go right. Simple.” Fergus explained. Aaron slowly pressed down to the left pedal, making the ship shift slightly to the left.

Fergus nodded, “Good, good, now see the wheel? Grab it.” he instructed. Aaron looked at the controls, a U shaped controller with grips on both hand holds. “Just like before left and right go those ways, but pull it towards you to go up, push it away to go down.” he instructed. Aaron pushed forward slightly, making the ship dip towards the planet, the rocky ground coming into view. 

Aaron pulled up until they broke through the cloud line of the planet. Aaron could feel gravity press him up against the seat, and for some reason he couldn't help but smile. Aaron felt a small rush go through him, “Nothing quite like it huh?” Fergus asked. 

Aaron nodded, “This is so cool…...man why didn't I want to fly before?” he asked aloud.

Fergus took a seat in the co pilot chair, “I asked myself the same thing when I first flew.” The captain grinned as his mind went back years ago, “When I got this ship, it was barely held together by glue. But I couldn't help but keep smiling, I finally had my own ship, I swear I must have flushed over ten thousand credits into the ship. Or it feels like it at least.” he explained. 

Aaron smiled at the pilot’s story. Building something from nothing must have felt like accomplishing a lifelong goal. “So what’d you do after you got the ship up and running?” he asked curiously, his goal was to get to the Jedi temple and become a Jedi. But after that? 

Well….one step at a time.

Fergus shrugged, “Well for the longest time I just enjoyed having the Copycat. But after a while I decided that I should have a reason to fly all over the galaxy.” the captain the smirked, “Plus being freelance means I set my own price…….hey how do Jedi get paid?” he asked.

“........huh……..no idea. But they get money I guess.” Aaron answered. He knew that Jedi didn't do what they did for money, they live to help people. If the story of Luke Skywalker taught him anything it was that. 

The pilot scratchy he's the back of his head as Aaron turned the ship back towards the planet. “So how'd you find out you were…..you know?” he asked, not wanting to probe into something that the teen didn't want to be asked.

Aaron shifted in the seat somewhat, “Owen called it being Force Sensitive. I found out when a bunch of jerks were beating me up. I kinda list pushed one of them with it into a tree. Broke his arm apparently.” Aaron admitted, making the pilot wince out of sympathy. “He may have had it coming.” he said to his own defense. 

“In my experiences, they only have a broken arm coming when they break something of yours.” Fergus started.

“Did I mention it was four on one or something?” Aaron asked bluntly.

“........then you kick them in the uncharted regions.” Fergus frssonsed, Aaron nodded at the fair trade. As much as he resented the people who bullied him, and as much as he wouldn't mind them getting what they had coming, he didn't want to hurt them that bad. 

As the port came back into view, Aaron let Fergus land the ship. The two lowered the ramp just as Owen, Lance, and Mori returned, ‘Where have you so been?’ the Ithorian asked as Aaron got off and held his arm out to carry the bags. 

“Just a quick fly over. I was getting antsy and needed to get off the ground.” Fergus said, making Mori glare at the captain. “What?” he asked as Aaron and Lance carried the bags back up into the ship.

‘Well jackass, I didn't get a chance to tell you the fuel regulator is busted!’ he explained, making the smirk disappeared from Fergus’s face. The fuel regulator was what made sure that the ship didn't use fuel to power systems when not needed. For example, the life support won't waste power if it's on a planet with hospitable conditions…...but it would activate of it just came down from space…..like it just had.

“Oooh……..it's the kid’s fault.” Fergus said, making Owen put his hands on his hips disapprovingly. 

“I heard that you traitor!” Aaron called out from the ship, making Moro glare at him. 

Fergus held his hands up, “Relax, Corellia is our next stop. We’ll get repairs there, drop off our cargo, and rest and relax for a few days.” he said as he walked up the ramp with Owen and Mori fallowing him. 

The Jedi looked over to the Rodian, “Is he always…”

‘A jackass? Yes. Yes he is.’ Mori answered as they climbed up into the ship, the ramp closing behind them. 

As the Copycat lifted back up off the ground and flew up into the sky, towards the next stop on their journey. 

AN: In all honestly this was supposed to be part of the last chapter but I decided to make this into its own chapter. 

Now honestly, first chapter I've ever written with someone piloting a Starcraft. Now as for the controls of the Copycat, I've looked at the schematics of multiple Star Wars ships and they seem to have s setup like this, though it does raise the question, how did little Anakin spin in the the first place? 

Ah well it's not my problem. As for now, you guys may have to wait a bit before the next chapter comes out. Until then, may the force be with you all :)


End file.
